EDINBURGH 2023: Review: STUART MCPHERSON: LOVE THAT FOR ME, Monkey Barrel

If you walk into a stand up gig a few minutes late and the audience is already dying with laughter then you know you're in safe hands. 

Stuart McPherson: Love That For Me centres around the last year of Stuart's life. A fairly standard routine for any comic, with Olga Koch applying the same narrative structure to her own Fringe show this year, one that even the most interesting of comedians can fail to turn into a brilliant hour of comedy. 

In the case of McPherson, his show primarily revolves around a life-altering event that happened even before his show at last year's festival; his girlfriend (also a comic) cheating on him with another comedian. An event that occurred so closely to last year's show that he never even had time to add it into his routine. Thankfully for us, Stuart takes that heartbreak and creates Love That For Me, a brilliant hour of stand up that provides 60 minutes of near non-stop laughs.

Writing and performing for almost ten years now it is clear that McPherson has honed his craft, branding a cool and confident stage presence that never feels the pressure or falters from a disappointing audience reaction; if anything, he feeds off of that energy. Any time in which the comedian is unhappy with the crowd's response to a joke (which frankly, there rarely was a bad response) he looks them dead in the eye and pulls his own desired reaction out of them with off the cuff, quick fire gags that he has seemingly just made up on the spot.

Within this is one of McPherson's greatest attributes as a stand up, his blurring of the line between planned and improvised routines, always feeling natural in his delivery and always getting a laugh.

However, between the jokes and the laughter there are some deeply touching and intelligent observations about both his own need - as well as many others of his generation - to be in a relationship, for others to love them rather than loving themselves.

Stuart McPherson pokes fun at himself somewhat during the show, reflecting on his own level of fame, that being of a minor celebrity who gets recognised a few times a month and will occasionally be asked for a selfie which is never posted online. It seems only a matter of time before this changes, with McPherson's charisma and level of wit being damn-near irresistible.

Stuart McPherson: Love That For Me is a hilariously intelligent hour of stand up, one that shines a light on one of Scotland's best comedians.

Stuart McPherson: Love That For Me is at Monkey Barrel until 27 August.

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